Chapter Thirty-One

 

 

The next morning, Drostan was gone. A silent fairy woman came in with a breakfast tray for me and deposited it on the dining table before she left. As I was eating, Hugo dropped onto the table.

“Well, you've made a right mess of things,” he noted as he helped himself to a strawberry.

“You are functioning under false information,” I said before sipping my tea. “I did not run away; Conall kidnapped me.”

“Yeah; I know that,” he said.

“What?”

“King Drostan had to explain why he stopped your punishment so soon,” Hugo said. “He informed the whole court that as they began, he found a letter in his pocket from Conall.”

“He what?” I scowled.

“King Drostan produced the letter, and we all recognized Sir Conall's seal,” Hugo went on. “It saved our king from a mutiny; I'll tell you what.”

“I think mutiny only applies to ships,” I muttered.

“Whatever.” Hugo rolled his eyes as he plopped down on the table. “It saved his ass from disgrace and rebellion. But I know that the King didn't sleep in his bed last night, and that is another type of disgrace. What did you do?”

“I was angry that he tossed me to his court like that!” I nearly shouted. “You saw what he did. Drostan strung me up and let those savages assault me!”

“For like ten seconds,” Hugo huffed. “They barely touched you.”

“They were going to,” I growled. “He even gave them guidelines for how they could do it, Hugo.”

“Yeah, okay,” Hugo gave in. “Still; the King didn't know that you were kidnapped. He thought you had betrayed him. His reaction was appropriate. In fact, most of us thought that it was lenient... or at least it would have been, had he let it happen.”

“Letting his entire court sexually assault me was lenient?” I hissed.

“He should have killed you,” Hugo went serious. “That's what most kings would have done to a traitorous concubine.”

I went still.

“But I was innocent,” I whispered.

“Again; he didn't know that,” Hugo said gently. “It's lucky for you that he cares so much for you... and that you saved his life. It gave him an excuse not to take yours.”

“Jesus,” I whispered. “This place is so fucked up.”

“It's the Unseelie Court.” Hugo shrugged.

“Tell me something, Hugo,” I said suddenly. “What does 'Aja' mean?”

“You don't know?” Hugo chuckled. “I heard him say it to you once, but I figured that he had explained it to you.”

“He didn't,” I growled. “What does it mean?”

“Ease up, bitchy face,” Hugo huffed. “It's nothing bad. Aja is a term of endearment; something you call your lover. Loosely translated, it means 'beloved.'”

“Beloved,” I whispered.

“Yep.” Hugo smirked. “I told you that you fucked up. You have a chance to be someone important to our king and our kingdom, and you're blowing it.”

“Where did Drostan sleep last night?” I asked as I tried not to let on how much that word had affected me.

“His library,” Hugo said. “I'm the only one who knows; I didn't spread the news because I like our king. And I happen to like you too.”

“Thanks,” I said with a smile. “I like you too; you're my only friend.”

“Which is why I'm reminding you of your tenuous position here,” he went on. “You had your temper tantrum, now get over it, little girl. Drostan holds your life in his hands, and you've just used up your only free pass. You must return to being the obedient concubine again.”

“I know,” I sighed. “I don't think I'm even mad at him anymore.”

“Now that you know what his alternatives were?” Hugo asked with a lifted brow.

“Yeah.” I swallowed roughly. “But, Hugo, I've fallen in love with someone else.”

“What?” Hugo's eyes went wide. “When did you fall in... oh. He's a Seelie.”

“He's their prince,” I whispered.

“Prince Trenton?” Hugo whistled. “Then it's a good thing you were returned to us because Trenton doesn't like women. Most of us think he's secretly into men.”

“He just needed a certain type of woman,” I said.

“You tricky little human!” Hugo exclaimed. “You snagged the Prince of Seelie!”

“Maybe.” I smiled a little. “But now I'll never see him again.”

Hugo went pensive for a few minutes. I used the time to eat some of my breakfast before he could hack at it.

“Royal fairies are hard to shake,” he finally said in a grim tone. “You saw how it went with King Drostan; Prince Trenton will no doubt find a way to get to you as well.”

I started to smile.

“Stop that!” He hissed. “Can't you see how bad that will go? King Drostan will never give you up. If Prince Trenton comes for you, our king will refuse to even speak to him. That will be an offense that Queen Tana will not be able to abide. We will go to war with Seelie all because the royals of Tirne are addicted to that little, human pussy of yours.”

Hugo and I stared at each other as the weight of war settled upon us.

“So, what do I do?”

“You have to convince both of them that you don't love Trenton anymore,” Hugo declared.

“It will destroy Trenton,” I whispered as I shook my head. “No; I won't do it.”

“If you don't, it will destroy Tirne.”